Pre-installed Firewall

[Bruce]

Is the firewall that comes with XP as reliable as a brand name like Norton,
or McAfee?
Also, either way, there are many options for setting it up in the "Advanced"
section. What are good recomendations?
Many thanks,
Bruce

 

[Wesley VogelX]

Bruce;
I use ZoneAlarm Free version. I like it, works pretty darn good for a FREE
one. The XP firewall is real basic. You can download ZA here:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

Wes

 

[Al Bundy]

Hi...the firewall that comes with XP is a one-way firewall...that is it
keeps things/people from getting inside your computer....however, it does
not keep things inside your computer from calling out. For that you need a
firewall that blocks traffic both ways...and I agree with the other poster
that Zone Alarm is good....and what I use. Other people swear by Sygate
though. It's at www.sygate.com Good luck.

 

[Bill James]

The XP Firewall is very basic but is adequate for blocking attempts to invade your computer from the Internet. Third party firewalls give extra features, but many users do not need those features, and also allow blocking outgoing access which could be the sign of a virus/worm infection.

--

Bill James
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User

Win9x VBScript Utilities » www.billsway.com/vbspage/
Windows Tweaks & Tips » www.billsway.com/notes_public/

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

WinXP's built-in firewall is fine at stopping incoming attacks, and
hiding all of your ports from probes. It doesn't give you any alarms
to tell you that it is working, though. What WinXP also does not do,
is protect you from any Trojans or spyware that you might download and
install inadvertently. It doesn't monitor out-going traffic at all,
much less block (or at least ask you about) the bad or the
questionable out-going packets.

ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate are much better, and there are a free
versions available. Personally, I've been very happy with Symantec's
Norton Internet Security 2002 (NIS 2004 is now available), which
includes Norton AntiVirus, Norton Personal Firewall, parental
controls, privacy controls, and ad blocking. (Just the elimination of
many of the pop-up ads on the Internet made the price worth-while to
me.)


Bruce Chambers

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